In The Mood For Valentine's Cards!

What could be better than pink and red on a cold, snowy, blustery day?  OK....maybe wine, a box of chocolates, a good book, and a nice comfy corner of the couch with a thick, warm blankie.  Now....back to reality (at least for the moment - the wine, etc. thing is not off the table for later). I thought I'd get some of my Valentine's Day cards done.

Stamp:  Magenta (Flowers & Hearts 30.019.N) 
Dies:  Impression-Obsession (Square Shaker Frame Die)
         Spellbinders (Die D-Lites Love You)

I embossed the stamp with white embossing powder, then watercolored the images with distress inks. A little layering, and some crystal clear Spectrum Noir sparkle shimmer, and Nuvo Jewel Drops with Enamel Accents here and there finish off this easy-peasy card.
Here's a close-up to try to show the shimmer....

I'll add this card to the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoasterstampers  and the Allsorts Challenge (no patterned paper).

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you're staying comfy, cozy, and warm.  And safe!

Blessings,

Embossed Magnolia Card With ColorBox Inks

Last night, all cozy and snuggled in my bed, I had a thought.  An epiphany, really.  I had been watching You Tube videos, and noticed that there is a resurgence of interest in ColorBox pigment inks.  People are using them to paint with, create backgrounds with, even stamp with.  I wanted to get out of bed and start playing with my pigment inks, but was just too tired.  So, after church today, I saw this Penny Black stamp on my desk, and thought I would see if I could do what I had envisioned last night in my epiphany. 

Since pigment inks are perfecty for embossing, I knew I wanted to emboss, but wasn't sure how it would look with this stamp.  So, I played, a lot.  After a few practice pieces, I decided to go for it and make a card.

I created the background onto a piece of pink card stock by brushing some distress ink abandoned coral and worn lipstick onto the pink panel, concentrating color at the bottom, and fading it as I moved up the card.  I used my Clarity brush to apply the ink.

Next, using the same colors of distress ink, I stamped the Penny Black Letter Background 1999L and Swirl Border 1969B intermittently onto the panel.  I dried this with my heat tool before moving on to the next step.

For the image, I used the Penny Black stamp The Unfolding 40-450.  I love, love, love this stamp!  I placed the stamp and panel into my Misty, and inked the petals with ColorBox cat's eye shaped pigment inks in coral, pink, rose coral, chianti, and merlot.  I inked the entire petals with the lighter colors, directly from the ink pads.  I wiped off the areas where I wanted the deeper colors with a Q-tip, and used the edge of the ink pad to apply the darker colors to the areas I wanted it darker.  I brushed some of the deeper color further into the petal, using very light pressure, to create a blended look.  I did the same for the stems and leaves, using moss green, olive, and chestnut inks.  I was going for a watercolor look, but using only pigment inks directly onto the stamp.

Since pigment ink does not dry quickly, I had time to create my scene and get all the stamping done before embossing.  Then I embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I wish you could see this in real life....the embossed shine and dimension really creates a dramatic look.  I had some pieces from my practice session, so I fussy-cut one of the flowers and buds and attached it at the top right of the panel with foam tape.

I added some spatters by adding water to some of the pigment inks that I had rubbed onto my craft mat, and flicked it off a paint brush, and added the stamens with a fine tip Sharpie marker. 

Here is a close-up so you can see the shine from the embossing, which really does not show up in the picture....

The color is a little more true in this picture than the first one.

 And a quick look at the inside.....

  Challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Love, anniversary, wedding

Penny Black At Allsorts - Photo inspiration
 

Allsorts Challenge - Birthday - Happy 8th birthday to the Allsorts Challenge blog!  Congratulations!

The Flower Challenge  - Case a design team card (I chose Tae Eun's card and changed the flowers and colors)






Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and are rested and ready to tackle the new week.  

Blessings,

lynda

Wishing Peony Card

Greetings!  I'm back in my craft room today.  Took a few days off to do some cleaning and sorting....a 'thing' that happens to me every spring.  I just needed to purge and declutter.  So, now it's back to creating.

Lately I've been loving the grays and eggplant color combination....

This lovely stamp image is from Stampendous (P062 Peony).  The wishing die is Simon Says Stamp, and the birthday phrase is from Simon Says Stamp clear set SSS101475 Sending & Wishing.

I lightly stamped the image using light gray ink onto a light gray panel.  I colored the image with Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils, using four different grays, and the white for highlights.  Around the image I used an eggplant color from my chalk pastels.  I shaved a little onto some scrap paper, then rubbed it onto my card around the flower using a makeup applicator.  You can see another card and more detail on how to do this HERE .

This card is for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Make A Wish

Simon Says STamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Allsorts Challenge - Happy Birthday - in honor of their 7th birthday.

Mojo Monday Sketch 449

Hope you get a chance to stop by these challenges to check out the cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Blessings,

lynda